Winton in Queensland (Australia) is at the very centre of some important dinosaur research with a number of new dinosaur species having been discovered in recent years. Now the town is one step closer to getting a world-class dinosaur themed visitor attraction after the Queensland State Government granted an additional $100,000 Australian dollars in funding.

The Member for Mount Isa, Betty Kiernan, made the announcement yesterday in Winton, north-west of Longreach. Before the many dinosaur discoveries, Winton’s chief claim to fame was that it was the town where the famous Australian song “Waltzing Matilda” was written.

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs has been planning and constructing the museum east of Winton for several years and is hoping to open stage two by April 2012.

Spokesman David Elliott says the funding will pay for an operations manager to oversee the project for another year.

He stated:

“It is in a bit of a critical stage at the moment with stage two just opening its doors and we’ve put all our resources into that and we have cut ourselves to the bone to do it. We’ve just got to get back on top now so we can start consolidating, so I am really, really happy about it”.

Commenting on the additional $100.000 dollar contribution David added:

“It is just good to be able to get this support at a time when we’ve put so much money out to pay for variations on the building.”

Although, Winton is relatively remote, it has become a centre for dinosaur research due to the extensive Cretaceous strata that is exposed in the region, leading to the discovery of a number of new dinosaur genera.